MI6 looks back at the issues of comic book
"James Bond, Agent 007" published in Sweden
by Semic Press in 1972...

Semic James Bond Comic
Books - 1972 31st December 2007

Whilst the James Bond comic strip series was
first published in UK newspaper The Daily Express from
7th July 1958, fans in Sweden had to wait seven years until the
first translated versions of the strips landed on their shores.
Rather than finding a national newspaper to run the daily strips,
Swedish publisher Semic collated the stories in to a comic book
titled "James Bond, Agent 007", releasing issues periodically
through the years. Due to the switch from long narrow strips
of 3 or 4 cells to a portrait
comic book,
Semic
reformatted the original artwork by John McLusky and Yaroslav
Horak - sometimes crudely adding artwork where needed, and sometimes
removing redundant cells due to the shift away from the daily
serialization. Semic continued to use the original strip material
up until 1981, when it started to introduce original adventures
for the Swedish readership. As the newspaper strip came to an
end in 1985, Semic increasingly relied on their new stories,
and this spelled the beginning of the end due to their varying
quality. After merging with fellow ailing comic "The Saint",
the comic book ceased publication in Sweden in 1996.

Featured Story
"Casino Royale" by Ian Fleming, adaptation by
Anthony Hearne, artwork by John McLusky. Reprinted from
the comic
strips published by the Daily Express from 7th July 1958
(strip #1) to 13th December 1958 (strip
#138).

Featured Story
Original story "Goldfinger" by Jim Lawrence,
artwork by Yaroslav Horak. Reprinted from the comic strips published by the Daily
Express from 21st April 1971 (strip #1597) to 28th August 1971 (strip
#1708).

Featured Story
"Diamonds Are Forever" by Ian Fleming adapted by
Henry Gammidge,
artwork
by
John McLusky. Reprinted from the comic strips published by the Daily Express
from
10th August 1959 (strip #340) to 30th January 1960 (strip #487).

Miscellaneous
One page 'pinup' photo of Sean Connery as 007 in Dr No, one page photo montage
of Connery in "Goldfinger" and "You Only Live Twice", one page 'pinup' photo
of Martine Beswick as Paula in "Thunderball".

Featured Story
Original story "Fear Face" by Jim Lawrence, artwork by Yaroslav
Horak. Reprinted from the comic strips published by the Daily Express
from 18th January 1971 (strip #1520) to 20th April 1971 (strip
#1596).

Miscellaneous
One page photo spread of Bond, Goldfinger and Oddjob from "Goldfinger",
one page photo of Sean Connery as 007 in "Diamonds Are Forever", one
page 'pinup' photo of Akiko Wakabayashi as Aki in "You Only Live Twice".